Category Archives: University of California, Berkeley: School of Information

The iSchool at the University of California, Berkeley has issued a Call for Contributions to the third issue of The iSchool Review. The publication debuted two years ago, designed specifically for work from master’s students in professional degree programs.

The Call for Contributions contains complete submission guidelines. Submissions will be reviewed in two rounds, with Round 1 submissions due Oct. 27, 2017 and Round 2 due Nov. 17, 2017. Submissions from students at any iSchool will be considered.

Those interested in learning more about the publication are invited to review issue #2 online.

The iSchool Review is a publication of the iSchool at Berkeley, a member of iSchools Organization; the iSchools Organization endorses the publication, but is not responsible for its content.

Berkeley, California (USA). -“The iSchool Review is a new publication designed specifically for work from master’s students in professional degree programs. As we begin to compile content for the second issue, we are seeking submissions related to information management, information design and information policy.
From traditional essays or policy papers to interactive information visualizations or UI/UX projects, we aim to publish cutting-edge works that further the interdisciplinary trajectory of 21st-century iSchools.
We will review submissions in two rounds, with a degree of preference given to early submitters. Following are the deadlines:
Round 1: Friday, 9 September 2016; and
Round 2: Friday, 21 October 2016.”Read more

The iSchools organization is pleased to announce that the winner of the 2016 iSchools Doctoral Dissertation Award is Dr. Ashwin J. Mathew. Dr. Mathew’s dissertation, “Where in the World is the Internet? Locating Political Power in Internet Infrastructure,” was judged the best to have been completed at a member-iSchool in the preceding academic year. The runner up was Dr. Briony Birdi for her dissertation titled, “We are here because you were there: an investigation of the reading of, and engagement with, minority ethnic fiction in UK public libraries.”

The iSchools Doctoral Dissertation Award recognizes outstanding work in the information field. Nominations are solicited from all members of the iSchools organization, now 65 institutions worldwide, and judged by a selection committee drawn from leading international schools. The winner receives a prize of $2,500 US, the runner up $1,000. Honorees are also offered a travel allowance so they can collect their award in person at iConference 2016, which takes place March 20-23, 2016, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.

2016 award winner Ashwin J. Mathew is a Visiting Scholar at the UC Berkeley School of Information, and Internet Infrastructure Researcher at Packet Clearing House, an international organization responsible for providing operational support and security to critical Internet infrastructure. He graduated with a Ph.D. from the UC Berkeley School of Information in 2014. Before that, he spent a decade working as a software engineer and technical architect in companies such as Adobe Systems and Sun Microsystems.

“Dr. Mathew’s thesis, ‘Where in the World is the Internet? Locating Political Power in Internet Infrastructure,’ exemplifies the close ties between information technology and social science (in this case, ethnographic) research,” said Dr. Michael Seadle, head of the iSchool at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, who co-chaired the 2016 Award along with Dr. Shigeo Sugimoto, head of the iSchool at the University of Tsukuba in Japan. “The author looked at how the decision-making processes in the contemporary networked environment influence and depend on political circumstances, and gathered his data through skilled observation and direct involvement. In the final the reviewers all agreed that this was an outstanding work that richly deserved the prize.”
2016 runner up Briony Birdi is a Lecturer in Librarianship at the Information School, University of Sheffield, where she also completed her Ph.D. and MA in Librarianship. Her research focuses on reading research and the promotion of literature and reading, and public and youth libraries, with an emphasis on social justice and diversity. She currently leads the Centre for the Public Library and Information in Society (CPLIS), which provides a focus for the School’s work in the public library sector. Since 2009 Birdi has been working at the University on a part-time basis, balancing an academic career and family life.

“Dr. Birdi’s thesis: ‘We are here because you were there: an investigation of the reading of, and engagement with, minority ethnic fiction in UK public libraries,’ addresses a current social and political issue involving minority ethnic fiction using three empirical studies to survey reading habits,” said Dr. Seadle. “The reviewers also agreed that this dissertation was a serious competitor for the prize and clearly deserved to be the runner up.”

Click here for more information about the 2016 Doctoral Dissertation Award honorees, including research abstracts.

The 2016 iSchools Doctoral Dissertation Award honorees will be recognized at a gathering of their peers at iConference 2016, which takes place March 20-23, 2016, in Philadelphia. The iConference is an international gathering of scholars and researchers concerned with critical information issues in contemporary society. The iConference is presented by the iSchools organization, and hosted each year by a different member school. The 2016 host is the Drexel University College of Computing & Informatics; this year’s conference theme is Partnership with Society.

The iSchools organization is a worldwide association of Information Schools dedicated to advancing the information field. These schools, colleges, and departments have been newly created or are evolving from programs formerly focused on specific tracks such as information technology, library science, informatics, information science, and more.

The iSchool Review, a new publication showcasing work from master’s students in professional degree programs, is seeking content for its inaugural issue. This is an opportunity for iSchool students to gain attention for their cutting-edge work. The inaugural issue will focus on information management, information design, and information policy.

The editors are seeking contributions that further the interdisciplinary trajectory of 21st-century iSchools. This can include traditional essays, policy papers, interactive information visualizations, UI/UX projects, and more.

The deadline for submission is Feb. 12, 2016. Submission requirements are included at the end of this post. The iSchool Review is published by the University of California, Berkeley, but masters students attending any iSchool are invited to submit. Questions can be sent to ischoolreview@ischool.berkeley.edu. The URL is www.ischoolreview.com.

In addition, a special session focused on the creation of the iSchool Review will take place at iConference 2016 in Philadelphia. SIE # 448 “iSchool Review” will take place Monday, March 21, 3:30-5:00 pm. Click here to view the iConference program schedule. Registration is now open.

iSchool Review Submission Guidelines

Abstract
Each submission should include an abstract that contains the following:

Title of Paper

Name(s) of Author(s)

Contact e-mail(s) for the author(s)

Affiliated academic institution(s)

A brief summary that provides a high-level overview of the work and explains its significance to the relevant field(s).

This summary should be no longer than 250 words.

Acknowledgements (optional).

3 to 5 keywords that categorize the work.

Faculty Endorsement
Each work that is selected for publication will require an endorsement from a faculty member at the author(s)’s affiliated academic institution(s). The faculty endorsement should be about 250 words and should address the following: describe why the work submitted is important, how it advances the relevant field(s) and/or any noteworthy technical achievements.

NOTE: We do not require the faculty endorsement at the time of submission. However, if your submission is selected for publication you will be responsible for securing and submitting the faculty endorsement. Any/all authors whose work is selected for publication but fail to secure and submit a faculty endorsement will not actually be published in The iSchool Review.

Interactive Component(s)
As a digital-only publication, we seek to take of advantage of interactivity in each issue of The iSchool Review. To that point, we encourage submitters to include interactive components and visualizations when relevant. These interactive components as well as the text of the submissions will be considered when making the final selections for the publication.

If a submission’s interactive component is posted online, please include a link to the appropriate website(s). If the interactive component is not posted online, please include relevant screenshots.

Formatting
Submissions should use Times New Roman font. The font size should be 12 pt. The text of the submission should be double-spaced. All pages should be numbered in the upper right hand corner.

Citations
Each submission should have a separate Works Cited page. Entries should be written according to APA style and listed alphabetically by author’s last name.

Submission Process
All submissions should be sent via email to ischoolreview@ischool.berkeley.edu and should be either in .doc or .docx format. Please submit by the appropriate deadline.

Please do not submit PDFs.

Any/all interactive component(s) should be included via screenshots and/or with a link to an external website.

Selection Process
The Editorial Board will hold a vote after each submission deadline.

Response Time
You can expect to receive a notification within four weeks after the relevant deadline for your submission.

“The Library & Information Technology Association (LITA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), has announced Michael Buckland as the 2014 winner of the Frederick G. Kilgour Award for Research in Library and Information Technology. The award, which is jointly sponsored by OCLC, is given for research relevant to the development of information technologies, especially work that shows promise of having a positive and substantive impact on any aspect(s) of the publication, storage, retrieval and dissemination of information, or the processes by which information and data is manipulated and managed. The awardee receives $2,000, a citation and travel expenses to attend the award ceremony at the ALA Annual Conference in Las Vegas, where the award will be presented on June 29, 2014.”

A group of School of Information faculty, Ph.D. students, and alumni spent this week in Cape Town, South Africa, for the Sixth International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development. Read more

Pardos is an expert in the emerging field of educational data mining — applying data science methodologies to the analysis of online learning environments by using real-world datasets to model and understand student learning. Read more

India’s National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) aims to support the nation’s poorest citizens by guaranteeing a minimum level of employment for rural families — but the development funds are often lost to corruption. Read more